Feeling a little less down. Trying to stay positive. Thanks everyone for the kind words.
So it begins...
I've now dived head first into this project. I'm hoping that all goes well. So far, so good. I managed to work my soldering and desoldering irons without burning my house down, so that's a step in the right direction. First thing I did was remove the RF modulator from the NES board, which wasn't an easy task. So much solder needed to be removed from it...
And I removed the 7805 voltage regulator for safe-keeping later on...
The only thing I'm having difficulty with now is the expansion port. I've desoldered all of the pinpoints on there, but it's still so hard to get out. I'm gonna have to try and get that out soon.
I also started constructing the video amplifier circuit. I was a little confused about how to set up, and I still am. Good thing I got spare parts. This may require a lot more work, but I'll get it eventually.
I still have a few more parts I need to pick up at some point, but for now I've got all the essential things I need. I hope to start soldering the video amp circuit tomorrow. All in all, it's been a productive day.
And now to sign off, I leave you with Turtles 2: The Arcade Game...inside the toaster.
I've now dived head first into this project. I'm hoping that all goes well. So far, so good. I managed to work my soldering and desoldering irons without burning my house down, so that's a step in the right direction. First thing I did was remove the RF modulator from the NES board, which wasn't an easy task. So much solder needed to be removed from it...
And I removed the 7805 voltage regulator for safe-keeping later on...
The only thing I'm having difficulty with now is the expansion port. I've desoldered all of the pinpoints on there, but it's still so hard to get out. I'm gonna have to try and get that out soon.
I also started constructing the video amplifier circuit. I was a little confused about how to set up, and I still am. Good thing I got spare parts. This may require a lot more work, but I'll get it eventually.
I still have a few more parts I need to pick up at some point, but for now I've got all the essential things I need. I hope to start soldering the video amp circuit tomorrow. All in all, it's been a productive day.
And now to sign off, I leave you with Turtles 2: The Arcade Game...inside the toaster.
So as I stated earlier, the toaster I originally got was a piece of crap. I disassembled it just to see what the inner structure would be like. Turns out it was way too unstable to my liking. Fortunately it was pretty cheap. So now I got a better one (hopefully).
Much sleeker design I think, and looks easier to work with. The only catch so far though: the bottom has two screws fastened there, a kind of screw I've never seen before.
It's the darnedest thing! I might have to go look for a special kind of screwdriver or fastener to try and get them out.
Anywho, that's the progress with it so far. Just got a book on electronics and will be reading up on that. Might even get a somewhat small circuit board to work with for practice. Just want to be well prepared before jumping right into a project like this.
Wish me luck!
UPDATE: I finally got the toaster opened up so I can see what it is I'm working with.
Looks pretty good. I think the little metal rim at the top will be good for keeping the structure stable enough to work with. Of course there is some circuitry going on where the heating elements are located, plus some on the inside cover for the LEDs on the dial pad. If I can find some way to incorporate that into the toaster I will; perhaps I could make one of the buttons the RESET button.
So at least now I know what I have to work with once it comes time to remove the heating elements. I can't wait to get started on this!
Much sleeker design I think, and looks easier to work with. The only catch so far though: the bottom has two screws fastened there, a kind of screw I've never seen before.
It's the darnedest thing! I might have to go look for a special kind of screwdriver or fastener to try and get them out.
Anywho, that's the progress with it so far. Just got a book on electronics and will be reading up on that. Might even get a somewhat small circuit board to work with for practice. Just want to be well prepared before jumping right into a project like this.
Wish me luck!
UPDATE: I finally got the toaster opened up so I can see what it is I'm working with.
Looks pretty good. I think the little metal rim at the top will be good for keeping the structure stable enough to work with. Of course there is some circuitry going on where the heating elements are located, plus some on the inside cover for the LEDs on the dial pad. If I can find some way to incorporate that into the toaster I will; perhaps I could make one of the buttons the RESET button.
So at least now I know what I have to work with once it comes time to remove the heating elements. I can't wait to get started on this!
I'm done. Finished. I've had enough. I'm through with it. I'm sick and tired of having to make apologies for myself and my actions. I think I realized what my problem is: I care too much about what people think of me. I always have. I've tried very hard to make good impressions on people I don't know, and it always ends up blowing up i my face, usually from a simple misunderstanding or miscommunication. And I've always thought I was in the wrong, and perhaps I was sometimes (and for that I'm often always sorry), but I'm through with having to make things right and tidy and trying to be the guy that everybody likes! It's way more trouble than it's worth, and it ain't worth shit!
So from now on, I'm going to be honest with myself, and just be me, whoever that is. I'll still be the nice guy, for the most part, but if we don't get along well, then that's fine too. I'd like to get along with everyone as much as I can, but I realize that that's not going to happen all the time; some people are content at being complete dicks with no sense of humor at all. And you know what? Fuck 'em! It's not my fault they don't get me. They're opinions about me don't mean squat to me. I know who my real friends are, and they're the ones who really matter to me. I'll never confuse "being friendly" with "being friends" ever again.
Look out, world! It's a whole new Lew...or rather, it's the real Lew now! The Lew who was always there but wasn't sure of himself until now. This is me. This is who I am!
Don't like it? Then I got two words for ya...
So from now on, I'm going to be honest with myself, and just be me, whoever that is. I'll still be the nice guy, for the most part, but if we don't get along well, then that's fine too. I'd like to get along with everyone as much as I can, but I realize that that's not going to happen all the time; some people are content at being complete dicks with no sense of humor at all. And you know what? Fuck 'em! It's not my fault they don't get me. They're opinions about me don't mean squat to me. I know who my real friends are, and they're the ones who really matter to me. I'll never confuse "being friendly" with "being friends" ever again.
Look out, world! It's a whole new Lew...or rather, it's the real Lew now! The Lew who was always there but wasn't sure of himself until now. This is me. This is who I am!
Don't like it? Then I got two words for ya...
